


Howl You Doin?

by KarsKars



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Acxa & Keith (Voltron) are Twins, Allura is mentioned but doesnt make an appearance, M/M, Veterinarian Lance, Veterinary Clinic, firefighter keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:49:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25394161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarsKars/pseuds/KarsKars
Summary: Lance is a veterinarian with a crush on the firefighter who keeps rescuing all manner of animals. One day, he's surprised to find a wolf in his clinic.
Relationships: Acxa & Keith (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Matt Holt/Romelle
Comments: 19
Kudos: 291





	Howl You Doin?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vrepit_nah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vrepit_nah/gifts), [Sampai66](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sampai66/gifts).



He was running late.

The rain had been pelting down for just over an hour already and Lance knew his poor receptionist would be hiding under the small awning at the front door for shelter. She’d been working for him almost a year now and perhaps he should take this as a sign to trust her with a key. Or at the very least buy her an apology lunch.

By the time he pulled into the parking lot, there was already a small lake forming near the constantly clogged drain in the far back corner. Lance sighed, knowing he’d have to go out there and remove whatever debris was blocking it this time, and that would mean getting absolutely soaked first thing in the morning. He killed the engine and reached for the large golf umbrella laying on the back seat of his navy blue Land Cruiser. The sky overhead was just beginning to rumble and he knew it would be a long day. 

“G’Morning Romelle” He called tiredly to the blonde haired young woman scowling dangerously at him. She looked like a giant bag of cotton candy with her faded blue jeans and soft pink blouse. Based on the way she clung to the door he suspected she genuinely believed she might melt in the rain. Yes, the image of cotton candy was apt. 

“Sorry it took me so long to get in. A tree fell across the highway and I had to take a more - scenic route.” He explained, fumbling slightly with the keys as he tried to unlock the door with only one hand.

“Oh for the love of - here, just give me those.” Angrily snatching the keys from his hands, she unlocked the front doors and quickly darted inside. Lance fought back the laugh as he watched her settle in at the desk, booting up her computer and checking for voicemails. 

He flipped their sign to “open” and headed into the back room where a cacophony of barks, yowls, meows, and growls greeted him. “I know, I know. Crumby weather. Nothing I can do about it - sorry.”

In about an hour his vet tech scheduled for today, Allura, would be showing up. “ALLURA CALLED IN SICK!!” - Okay, scratch that - it would be just the two of them today. No big deal. With the terrible weather they wouldn’t be all that busy. Maybe he could even complete some of the smaller projects that had been piling up. Like the flickering lightbulb in the storage closet.

“Okay, thanks. Can you take her paycheque home with you?” He responded after a beat. The two were cousins and, when Romelle moved up from the city a year and a half ago, Allura had offered up her spare room. Which is exactly how Lance got strong armed into hiring the overly enthusiastic receptionist.

“YOU BET!” Romelle hollered, though she didn’t need to; the wall separating them was very thin. He rolled his eyes and shook his head with a fond chuckle, even if hiring her hadn’t been his idea, he was glad she was here.

Lance puttered around in the back room for a while with his daily tasks. Administering medication, updating his files, and cleaning equipment only took so long and eventually, with no calls or walkins thus far, he found himself half an hour ahead of schedule. 

He was halfway done changing the lightbulb when the door separating the front and back rooms opened and a shy looking Romelle stepped through.

“Uh, boss? I stayed at Matt’s last night and was going to get a ride back with Lura but, well - that’s not happening. So, could I catch a ride with you?”

He nodded automatically before realizing she couldn’t see him inside the dark closet and called out an affirmation. No sooner had he stepped down from the ladder when a sudden crack of thunder sent three cats into a frenzy and the two of them spent the next hour calming the tiny tigers down.

By the time Romelle returned with their lunch order, Lance was absolutely starving. He’d let her choose where to order from and held true to his silent plan of apology, offering to pay for her lunch to make up for wet feet and waiting in the rain. He sat in his tiny office in the backroom, eating a large bowl of spaghetti at the small desk and trying (but more accurately failing) to keep garlic bread crumbs out of the keyboard. The phone had picked up a bit, ringing with several wrong numbers and a handful of people concerned about problems that turned out to be minor. Romelle had scheduled a few appointments for later in the week, but most were being booked into the next month as his schedule filled up. 

The problem with being an animal hospital, not just a vet clinic, was that they needed to make sure time was left available for emergency calls or walkins. Which they got a lot of. Like, a lot.

There was an older lady who rescued every cat she came across, a not-for-profit wildlife reserve that couldn’t afford to keep a vet on retainer and just came to him instead, and a crazy guy who brought in every injured animal he came across. Typically it was dogs and cats but on occasion he’d bring in racoons and opossums, and more than once Lance had been faced with pissed off foxes he’d saved. 

The guy was actually incredibly shy and slightly awkward but very nice. He always called in advance to let them know he was coming. Only once had Lance needed to turn him away and the look of devastation in the young man’s eyes had cut him up inside. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to help the very dead turtle the other had been cradling. 

Lance had gotten very used to seeing him several times a month and, while others may find the guy’s habit annoying, he found it endearing. Plus the guy was kinda hot. Okay, he was super hot. Lance knew the young man was a local firefighter and that he didn’t actually live in town but rather out in the country, finding most of the animals he’d bring in on the side of the road. Cars drove to fast out here and they were surrounded by dense woods. It was a recipe for roadkill disaster.

“Hey boss, Keith called. He’s on his way with a dog that got hit by a truck or something.” Speak of the devil. It was only a matter of time before he came in. He typically saw Keith more often when the weather took a turn.

“Did he say what breed?” Lance asked as he started opening up the locked cabinets that stored their sedatives and painkillers.

“Nope. Mumbled something about it possibly looking like a husky.” She shrugged dismissively and turned to head back to her desk, popping a bubble she’d blown from her gum with a loud snap. Lance grabbed an extra bottle of sedative just in case.

* * *

He pulled his truck into the flooded parking lot of the clinic and scowled at the ankle deep muddy water. This was his last clean pair of boots and they were about to be soaked. A loud whine from the bench seat reminded him of why he was here and Keith quickly jumped out of the cab. He pulled the large beast into his arms and very carefully avoided its teeth. It had nearly bitten him once when he was putting it in the truck and that was  _not_ going to happen again. Actually, it would probably be a good idea to see if his favourite vet would sell him a muzzle for the future - just in case.

The large wolf growled at him as he jostled it around trying to try and pull open the doors. Instead of risking another bite, he decided to use his foot and kick the handicap access button. His arms were getting weaker and weaker as he waited for it to open wide enough for him to slip through; the injured wolf proving to be far heavier than he’d anticipated. A snap of gum caused the wolf to whine and the blonde girl whose name he kept forgetting didn’t even budge.

“Hey, Keith. Everything’s all set up, just go right on in the back there and Doctor - Um, you know that’s not a husky right?” The receptionist deadpanned as she finally looked up to greet him, her eyes going wide in shock but her indifferent tone otherwise unaffected. Keith ignored her, marching into the back and setting the very heavy animal down on the large metal table in the centre of the room. It growled at him and tried again to take a chomp out of his arm as he quickly retreated. 

“HA. Nice try asshole. Is that the thanks I get?” He asked the wolf and - why was he talking to a wolf? Did he want the hot vet to think he was a crazy person? No, no he did not. “Oh stop looking at me like that. I’m trying to help you.” he chastised the pathetic creature. It continued to stare at him with eerie awareness, as if it were also thinking him to be bonkers. 

“You know, you really should get out more, Dolittle.” Lance’s voice was soft but he clearly hadn’t bothered trying to hide his mocking tone, nor the slight chuckle to his words. When Keith turned around he was met with a radiant smile. He didn’t understand how someone could smile so widely and still have it feel entirely genuine. But Lance could.

Speaking of Lance, the veterinarian was wearing his dark navy scrubs that brought out the blue of his eyes and were maybe a little too small. They clung to him in all the right places making Keith blush. At least the blush could be played off as embarrassment for talking to a wolf. He looked the young doctor in the eyes and quirked a brow in confusion.

“You’ve known me for months. My last name is Kogane.” Honestly, he’d thought they’d been making some progress. Slightly flirtatious comments being exchanged more and more frequently with bigger, brighter smiles of greeting. He’d been starting to think he actually stood a chance.

Cerulean eyes rolled in their sockets and a sharp bark of laughter escaped through very soft looking lips. Keith had to physically force himself to stop staring. “Never mind.” Lance chuckled and moved around the room to check out the injured animal he had brought in. “Okay, let’s see what we have todaAAYYY!” He shrieked, quickly regaining control and calming down so as not to spook the already nervous wolf. 

Through tightly clenched teeth Lance spoke again. “Keith!!!!!! You know this is a wolf right?” 

“I’m not stupid. Of course I know it’s a wolf.” He defended, staring at the vet’s bewildered expression. “If I said ‘wolf’ on the phone Rachel wouldn’t have let me come.”

“It’s Romelle. And no, for good reason! You can’t just waltz in here with a wild freaking animal!” Lance argued, throwing his arms out and gesturing wildly at the aforementioned wild animal. 

“Why not?” Keith asked. He didn’t see the problem, he brought wild animals in all the time.

“Because it’s a freaking wolf, Keith. That’s why not,” 

“Okay, but it’s basically a dog just a little more - rough around the edges.” he explained, still not understanding the problem.

“Rough around the edges? Keith - KEITH! Man, it’s a WOLF!! It’s not  _ ‘rough around the edges’  _ it’s ALL EDGES!” 

Keith snorted, unable to hide his fondness for the vet, before promptly remembering that said vet was refusing to help. “Look, are you going to help Kosmo here or not?”

“Kosmo? You named the wolf?” A small, endearing smile tugged at the corner of Lance’s mouth and Keith shrugged.

“We had a bonding moment.” He dismissed and the wolf seemed to echo his sentiment, letting out a huff and a small whine, drawing both of their attention back to it.

The wound on its leg was bad. He didn’t know how bad without hearing Lance’s full assessment, but Keith was pretty sure he could see bone. The wolf was also super sensitive about its front shoulder and its tail had been bent at an odd angle. He’d concluded that the poor thing must have been hit by a pickup truck and, based on the gouge on the rear leg, he suspected it was that damned Zarkon. 

Zarkon was a local hunting enthusiast. He’d strapped a large pair of antlers to the front of his big, black, Silverado and had heavy looking metal testicles hanging from the trailer hitch at the back. You could hear that truck coming a mile away thanks to its modified exhaust making it as loud as a transport. Unfortunately, a thunderstorm would mask the sound of him coming and probably lead to Kosmo getting hit.

The asshole was incredibly wealthy and controlled, or outright owned, most of the land their small town was built on. Even Lance’s animal hospital was built on land Zarkon owned. He knew the young vet had to be paying an extortionate amount in rent, but he always helped the animals Keith brought in at a fraction of the regular cost and it made him smile.

“The wolf’s going to need surgery and I’m not completely sure about that leg until I get a better look, but I’m thinking it’s going to need amputation.”

“Can he go back into the wild without his hind leg?” Keith asked, fearing the answer he knew he was going to get. Lance just shook his head.

“Then it’s a good thing I named him.” 

“You’re going through with this?” Lance asked in surprise and Keith nodded. Why wouldn’t he?

“Why wouldn’t I?” He asked. “Look, I gotta get to the fire hall, we need to help clear the roads leading into town. Just do whatever you need to and save him, then send me the bill.”

* * *

The moment Keith left, the wolf’s entire disposition changed. Gone was the hurt but trusting creature, replaced instead by an aggressive and terrified wild animal. “Romelle -” he called, “- I’m going to need some help in here!” 

It took the two of them nearly ten minutes before he could properly administer enough sedative to calm the poor thing down. With the wolf sedated he could finally complete a more thorough examination of its injuries, which turned out to be far more excessive than he’d first thought. There was no way this animal was being released back into the wild. 

He instructed Romelle not to take in any patients for today and called his other vet techs trying to find someone willing to assist with surgery for a few hours on their day off. After Acxa finally agreed to come in, stating it would be at least 20 minutes before she could get there, he began preparing the operating room. 

Once finished, Lance transferred the wolf onto the operating table and hooked it up to all of the monitoring equipment. He heard the front door jingle and started scrubbing in as Acxa joined him at the sink. 

The surgery took nearly five hours with additional sedative having to be administered multiple times throughout the operation. He’d managed to save the badly injured wolf’s life, but unfortunately not its leg. Acxa helped him transfer the unconscious canine into its cage, being sure not to jostle it too much. He pulled a blanket over the front to provide some privacy and help the wolf feel more protected when it awoke. 

“What kind of idiot picks up an actual wolf from the side of the road?” She asked, bewildered, and all Lance had to do was look her in the eyes for understanding to settle in. She groaned and shook her head slightly, muttering  _ “Of course he did.” _ under her breath. 

“He named it too.” Lance added with a chuckle, earning an exasperated groan.

* * *

“Hey.”

Keith looked up from his phone to stare at his sister. She didn’t look too happy. “Hey.” He replied.

“You’re an idiot.” Acxa’s arms were folded over her chest and she was leaning her weight on one hip, a scowl meeting his gaze. What did she expect him to say to that? Agree? Argue? Either way he lose. So he just shrugged, choosing indifference and turning back to the game he’d been playing.

“You made me come in on my day off.” Keith ignored her. “Hey - stop playing angry birds and pay attention.” He scowled up at her and narrowed his eyes as he met her gaze. “You know that thing can’t go back to its pack right? What are you going to do with a whole ass wolf?”

He shrugged again. “Keep it?”

“You can’t ke - KEITH! You can’t take an actual wolf home, like, what are you even thinking?!” She plopped herself down beside him, turned slightly to face in his direction. “What are you going to do with it?”

“Keep him, Acxa. Kosmo’s cool. We have an understanding.” He watched her roll her eyes in the most dramatic way possible while her face somehow stayed completely void of emotion. No, that wasn’t true at all - her expression was just dripping in vexation. 

“You’re lucky Lance has some stupid crush on you or this would not have gone so smoothly. You owe him BIG TIME dip shit.” Ignoring the scolding, Keith brightened considerably at the first part. He didn’t even notice his own grin until Acxa groaned and walked away.

He needed to do something. He needed to find some way to thank Lance for everything - and not just for Kosmo, but for Ruddles, and Pinky, and Hopster, and Fluffy numbers 1 through 27, and Sir Barks-A-Lot numbers 1 through 8, and Marshmallow, and Mr. Mask, and all of the other desperate creatures Keith had brought in. He probably owed Lance more than whatever the bill should be, and definitely more than what Lance would probably charge him. 

Emboldened by his brutally honest twin sister’s claims, Keith decided to take a chance. The wolf would need a few days at the clinic to recover and he would come back, every. Single. Day. if he had to. So when the door from the back room opened, and a very tired looking Lance stepped through, Keith took his chance. He walked across the room and, before he could lose the nerve, reached out to take hold of that tanned wrist. 

“Thank you, Lance. Really - I, I mean it.” He tried to push the sincerity of his words through, holding the other’s gaze hostage and refusing to look away. Keith was treated to the sight of a soft blush creeping cross lightly freckled cheeks.

“Oh - yeah, don’t mention it.” Lance smiled back, all the warmth of a thousand suns radiating from him and it was all Keith could do not to melt under the intensity.

“I owe you one - or, more accurately, I owe you a thousand.” He smiled shyly,  _ god  _ why was this so hard? “Let me make it up to you. Dinner? Tomorrow night? We could go to the city, I can make us a reservation at Elio’s if you’d like.” He asked nervously and there would be no mistaking his intent. Elio’s was a classy place; suit and tie level fancy. Keith smiled anxiously, holding his breath and waiting for a reply.

Lance’s surprise quickly washed away and he smiled at Keith again, softer this time. “Yeah, that sounds great.”


End file.
